SCEA History

The Southeast Center for Education in the Arts was founded in 1987 through a unique
public, private and institutional collaboration among the Getty Center for Education
in the Arts, Chattanooga-based foundations, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
the State of Tennessee, and area school districts. SCEA is one of six Getty funded
regional institutes established to research and promote discipline-based visual art
education. UTC and the Chattanooga community had the foresight to expand the concept
to embrace music, theatre, and dance education.

During the 1990s, four satellite institutes were established in Atlanta, Montgomery,
New Orleans, and Savannah to further disseminate SCEA’s philosophical concepts, instructional
practices, and resources.

In 1996-2001, SCEA collaborated with the five other Getty centers in California, Florida,
Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas on the Transforming Education Through the Arts Challenge. This research initiative of the Annenberg Foundation and Getty Trust provided intensive
professional development to 35 partner schools across the nation as they developed
comprehensive arts education programs.

From 2001-2006, SCEA directors served as consultants, writers, and talent for three
educational television series commissioned by Annenberg Media in Washington, DC and
produced by Lavine Production Group in New York City. The project included video resource
libraries, video workshops, instructional materials, and interactive websites.

Starting in 2002, SCEA began to apply an extensive knowledge of arts-based pedagogy
to interdisciplinary professional development, creating integrated instructional strategies
and curriculum that promote deep understanding through concept-based connections at
the nexus of the arts and other disciplines. Annual spring Arts & Education Forums now convene educators from across the country to explore and discuss current practice
in arts integration, with the goal of refining the work of professional development
providers.